English Literature GRE Study Guide

John Donne, George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, Thomas Traherne, Henry Vaughan
John Donne, George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, John Dryden
John Donne, Andrew Marvell, William Shakespeare, Sir John Suckling
John Donne, George Herbert, Sir Thomas Wyatt, John Milton

2. Which of the following is an example of a metaphysical conceit?

A. Shakespeare's Sonnet 130: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun."
B. George Herbert's "Praise (3)," in which the generosity of God is compared to a bottle which ("As we have boxes for the poor") will take in an infinite amount of the speaker's tears.
C. John Donne's "The Flea," in which a flea that bites both the speaker and his lover becomes an extended metaphor that allows Donne to argue for the depth of their union
B & C

3. Which of the following are Cavalier poets?

Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, George Herbert,and Andrew Marvell
George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, and Sir John Suckling.
Andrew Marvell, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Traherne, and Henry Vaughan
Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Carew, and Sir John Suckling.

4. "FAIN would I kiss my Julia's dainty leg,
Which is as white and hairless as an egg."

The above short poem is an example of a

blason
metaphysical conceit
euphuism
feminine rhyme

5. "When we have run our passion's heat,
Love hither makes his best retreat :
The gods who mortal beauty chase,
Still in a tree did end their race.
Apollo hunted Daphne so,
Only that she might laurel grow,
And Pan did after Syrinx speed,
Not as a nymph, but for a reed."

The above quote from Marvell's "The Garden" references what classical work?

Ovid's Metamorphoses
Virgil's Aeneid
Sappho's Lyrics
Homer's Odyssey

6. Apollo is the god of

poetry and music
the sun
harmony, order, and reason
all of the above

7. Manoa, Dalila, and Harapha are all characters in what work by John Milton?

Areopagitica
Samson Agonistes
Paradise Lost
"Comus"

8. Milton's Areopagitica is titled after

The Areopagus
A speech written by the Athenian orator Isocrates in the 5th century BC.
The "hill of Ares" in Athens
All of the above

9. "A car radio bleats,
'Love, O careless Love . . . .' I hear
my ill-spirit sob in each blood cell,
as if my hand were at its throat . . . .
I myself am hell,
nobody's here--"

The above excerpt from Robert Lowell's "Skunk Hour" contains an allusion to what 17th-century work?

Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress"
Robert Herrick's Julia poems
John Milton's Paradise Lost
John Milton's "Lycidas"

10. "Forth came that auncient Lord and aged Queene,
Arayd in antique robes downe to the ground,
And sad habiliments right well beseene;
A noble crew about them waited round
Of sage and sober Peres, all gravely gownd;
Whom farre before did march a goodly band
Of tall young men, all hable armes to sownd,
But now they laurell braunches bore in hand;
Glad signe of victorie and peace in all their land."

The form of the above stanza is

Spenserian stanza
part of a Spenserian sonnet
rhyme royal
villanelle

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Format and code for quiz "borrowed" from Hardy Hansen's "Classical Origins of Western Culture" website

Code originally from Timothy Shortell's Sociology 19 website (2/99)

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